Hairston, Mavrokefalides lead AEK to overtime win at Oktyabr

AEK Athens took a big step toward a spot in the Last 32 by escaping from Volgograd with a 78-82 overtime victory over Krasny Oktyabr on Wednesday in Group F. AEK raised its record to 4-2, while the home team dropped to 1-5 and sits in last place with few chances to reach the next round. Late in the third quarter, AEK Athens exploded through Malik Hairston and Loukas Mavrokefalides to take a 48-57 margin, but a furious 15-4 comeback by the hosts set up a thrilling finale. Mavrokefalides forced the game to overtime and Hairston scored a crucial three to push his side to victory. Mavrokefalides amassed a double-double of 28 points and 10 rebounds for a performance index rating of 36, while Malik Hairston added 16 ad Milan Milosevic 11. A great losing effort came from DJ Cooper, who finished with 27 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists, while JaJuan Johnson added 17 and Jordan Hamilton 16.

Evgenii Voitiuk gave an early 8-2 led to the hosts with a shot from mid-range before Dusan Sakota hit a three to bring AEK close within 10-8. A 10-2 run, fueled by Cooper with 4 points, gave the first double-digit margin to Oktyabr, 20-10. Hamilton and Dimitris Katsivelis exchanged jumpers in the final minute to make it 22-14 at the first break. Milan Milosevic after two minutes of the second quarter brought AEK within 22-20. Johnson answered by pushing away the guests, 26-20. Dimitrios Mavroeidis completed the comeback by tying it at 26-26. Marc Carter’s pull-up jumper put the visitors in front 29-30. He then scored again, but Cooper fixed the score 33-34 at halftime.

Back-to-back baskets by Philip Scrubb extended the difference to 33-38 before Cooper kept his side close at 40-42 with a shot from downtown. Mavrokefalides and Hairston exploded for the visiting team to go up 42-50 at the midway point of the quarter and then raised the advantage to double figure at 46-57 before Johnson posted a jumper to make it 48-57. Viacheslav Zaytsev scored a jumper to get Oktyabr back on track at 55-59, but Milosevic hit from downtown to further reject the hosts, 55-64. Oktyabr started an amazing come back to tie it at 66-66 through Cooper from beyond the arc and take the lead 70-68 through Zaytsev before Mavrokefalides forced the game to an extra session. Giannis Kalampokis scored to make it 70-74, but Cooper tied it with a jumper. Hairston boosted AEK from long distance to make it 74-79 the visitors maintained a slim margin with good accuracy from the foul line.

Head Coaches

"Today we shot with a low percentage. The absence of [Andrei] Matejunas was also a negative factor. Unfortunately, right now we have very low chances to advance."

SAKOTA, DRAGAN

AEK Athens

"It's an important win for us. We are very close to our goal, which is qualification to the next phase of the Eurocup. We showed some weaknesses today. We had some empty spaces and we didn’t react properly to Cooper’s consecutive three-pointers. However, the composure was the key to victory.”